Monday, September 30, 2019

Animal Farm Essay

I believe that the animals’ lives have not changed significantly from the beginning Animal Farm to the end of it. Life for the farm animals in the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, started out dreary, short, and somewhat hopeless. By the end of the book, the humans have been chased out of their farm, but the animals are now led by the pigs. However, the pigs have slowly progressed to become just like the humans, so the living conditions of the animals have not changed. Their leaders remain the same kind of creatures through the book, whether pig or human, because their behavior is so similar. The lives of the animals are harsh and unforgiving from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. The farm animals were oppressed by the parasitical humans, who beat and starved them, but also profited from them. The humans (Mr. Owens specifically) have superintendence over the animals and force them to work long hours with little sustenance, despite the fact that the animals are far from indefatigable. Mr. Owens is an inebriate, and sometimes to forgets to feed them at all. After they are too old to work (such as in the case of horses), or reach a certain age (in the case of the pigs), the animals are sent to be slaughtered. Through all his cruelty, Mr. Owens benefits from the animals’ hard work. The animals rebel against the humans after the pigs (led by Snowball) canvas support for the revolution, and the animals’ living conditions improve for a short while. After Snowball is chased out, Napoleon takes over and slowly increases their working hours and decreases their food. He maintains the illusion that the animals will be offered retirement after they have reached a certain age. However, Boxer is sent to be made into glue after he is hurt and unable to work anymore, rather than being sent to a hospital like Napoleon claims. The pigs also have whips which they carry around. In this way, the animals are still being beaten, starved, and slaughtered in a contemptible way. Their daily lives have not changed significantly. The similarities between the pigs and humans also support my opinion that the animals’ lives do not change much from the beginning of the book to the end. The pigs and humans both are important to the animals, since they control every aspect of their lives. Mr. Owens, the owner of the farm at the beginning of the book, was a greedy, cruel farmer. He beat and starved the animals and worked them extremely hard. Compared to their work, he did almost nothing, drinking in his home instead. After Mr. and Mrs. Owens and all the other humans are chased off the farm, the animals take over the farm, with the pigs in charge. Although Snowball is a fair leader at first, he is chased off by Napoleon. Napoleon was already planning his machinations quite early on, and his plan to get complete power works. He works the animals harder than ever, and their rations are quite low. While the animals are toiling, the pigs are free to gambol about and do as they please. By the end of the book, the pigs have begun walking on two legs, sleeping in beds, wearing clothes, carrying whips, and drinking alcohol. These are all human characteristics. Therefore, the beings with control over the animals’ lives have changed little. Both Napoleon and Mr. Owens are selfish, ruthless beings who care only for their own profit. From the beginning to the end of Animal Farm, the farm animals are (excluding the pigs) treated badly. Their lives are work-filled, tough, and short. Although the farm changes hands from the humans to their fellow farm animals (pigs), their lives do not improve significantly for the better. In the end, they are actually worse off. The pigs and humans are similar in their behavior, attire, and selfish wishes. I do not think their lives overall have changed significantly over the course of the novel, because their treatment and leaders are roughly the same. Their lives stay mostly the same, because those two things almost completely control their lives.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Financial Statement Analysis for Tootsie Roll and Hershey Essay

The Hershey Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various types of chocolate and confectionery, refreshment and snack products, and food and beverage enhancers in the United States and internationally. The Hershey Company sells its products through sales representatives and food brokers, primarily to wholesale distributors, chain grocery stores, mass merchandisers, chain drug stores, vending companies, wholesale clubs, convenience stores, dollar stores, concessionaires, department stores, and natural food stores. The company was founded in 1894 and is based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Hershey Company went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1922 (http://finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=HSY). Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. , through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products. The company sells its products under the registered trademarks. It distributes its products through candy and grocery brokers to wholesale distributors of candy and groceries, supermarkets, variety stores, dollar stores, chain grocers, drug chains, discount chains, cooperative grocery associations, warehouse and membership club stores, vending machine operators, the U. S. military, and fund-raising charitable organizations. Tootsie Roll Industries operates in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company was founded in 1896 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. went public on the NYSE in 1927 (http://finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=TR). The Hershey Company and the Tootsie Roll Company both are companies in confection industry; they specialize in a wide variety of chocolate candy products. I compared both companies for the years 2002, 2003, and 2004 against each other and against the industry averages in order to make a decision about which company investors would choose to invest in. The comparisons I used to make this decision were ratios for liquidity, solvency, and profitability. As a result of my analyses, I have chosen the Hershey Company.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Debate About K to 12 Essay

Debate About K – 12 JOEL: Good morning/Good afternoon as the case maybe! The Department of Education is currently facing the issue about —DepEd Order No. 32, series of 2012 (otherwise known as the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10157 or the Kindergarten Education Act); and DepEd Order No. 31, series of 2012 (policy guidelines on the implementation of Grades 1 to 10 of the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum). These curricula are bombarded with a lot of doubt and questions, not being part of the Department concerned with the implementation of these programs. The Department of Education’s planned shift to K+12 seeks to enhance the current curriculum and allow high school graduates to specialize and be equipped with skills to enter industry, a vocation or engage in entrepreneurial activity. Though reforms have been discussed since the Unesco Mission survey in 1949, it is only now that definite action on K+12 is being taken to move our education system up to international standards. But this does not end here. The move to K+12 is a gradual process that will need the time and commitment of all stakeholders, especially parents and teachers, because this kind of reform is not focused on one area alone but involves cohesive action from all sectors to address the needs of their communities. According to some studies and researchers, 10 years of studying is not enough for us to be that ready. That equipped to face all the challenges in life. We are living in this ever – changing world, the reason why we need to be always ready, to be always at our best to face those changes, for us to be fully armed in the time of battle – the battle of the brain, the real battle of life. But is there really a need to add 2 more years just to make us ready and that knowledgeable enough? Is an additional of 2 more years in education really satisfies the need of Filipino people? We are aware that many Filipino suffered and still suffering from hunger, malnutrition, maltreatment, unemployment and many more. Many are suffering from being uneducated and maybe it is true K – 12 is a great help. But the question is can we afford it? There are many out – of – school youth today because of poverty. Because their parents had no means of living, those who are called  as â€Å"isang kahig, isang tuka†. The money they have is just enough for the food and it is too tough for them to go to school and spend their 10 years of life in studying. Because for them what matter most is that they have food to eat. So they choose to work rather than studying. In fact 10 years of studying is really spending a lot of money and another 2 years, more money again. Also, students find it boring and feel like studying is a never ending journey. Additional years in education system will really require more budgets not just from the government but from the parents as well. Aside from that, students will need additional classrooms, school supplies, program and more qualified teachers as well. CHAWEE: We’ve heard the argument on the effectiveness of K+12 if the students don’t even have tables to work on, or can’t even get to school because of poor infrastructure. These are programs that the private sector, through civil society, is actively working on with the help of the government. Local government units have a large role in making sure that the educational needs of their communities are met. The Synergia Foundation has been effective in working with LGUs to improve their communities. ESPLENIA: Are we ready for E-Learning? Maybe yes, or maybe no, but if we don’t prepare for it now we will never be. The technology and the infrastructure have been introduced to the public schools through Gilas, a public-private sector initiative that has been at the forefront of providing computers and Internet connectivity to public schools nationwide. Through Gilas many teachers and students have been trained on the use of technology for learning. An eLearning program called Genyo has proven an effective tool for public school teachers and students. The software is currently being used in private schools and has been donated to public schools through Gilas and the initiative of private foundations. Manuel â€Å"Boy† Mejorada says: November 12, 2010 at 9:57 am JOEL: I must add that the K-12 revised curriculum isn’t the cure-all solution for our educational woes. Huge investments need to be made on strengthening the education infrastructure — classrooms, textbooks, learning aids, teacher  training — at all levels. Adding the two years will not repair the defect if the foundations of a child’s education are weak in the first place. The problem about the present curriculum in squeezing 12 years of basic education into just 10 is that students are overloaded with subjects. Without even having to go inside a classroom, the ordinary observer can already see this from the oversized bags that students have to lug everyday, filled with books and other learning materials One consequence is that the ordinary school day leaves our kids exhausted, with little time for play and socializing at school. This leads to the exclusion of learning social skills which is an essential part of growing up. The main objection of parents against the K-12 is more economic than anything else. Parents fear the extra years will result in more expenses to be shouldered. They miss the point about the proposed curriculum leading to improved learning for their children. Dean Jorge Bocobo says: ESPLENIA: I also realized that indeed â€Å"TEACHING IS NOT FILLING UP THE PAIL, IT IS ABOUT LIGHTING THE FIRE.† Blatantly true indeed—we should not see out students to be blank sheets, who are incapable of thinking for themselves. My teaching career was and is a continuing humbling experience. Our students are geniuses in their own rights, and as educators we should be able to tap on these hidden gifts of theirs. Which brings me to the point of my discussion, will this philosophy that teaching is not merely filling up the pail, rather it is lighting up the fire be heightened or diminished by what is now called the K to 12 program of the Philippine Educational System? CHAWEE: Another point to consider is that children of this generation, this NEW generation, more specifically, get easily bored. They have shorter attention span and will most likely display their boredom and discontent more obviously. So will they be able to bear and cope with the additional years in school? I am also concerned on the preparedness in general with regards to the implementation of this program. Although the program was based on foreign research and was seen to be successful in different  countries, but are we certain that this curriculum will be adaptable to the Filipino learners, and are the teachers ready to adapt yet again another curriculum—believing that this could be the solution to our deteriorating educational system. JOEL: believing that this could be the solution to our deteriorating educational system. Are the teachers well-informed about the program? Do they have enough training, seminar-workshops and the likes? Have there been researches on the effects of the K-12 program in the Philippine classroom setting? Many critics are still bothered that K-12 might be more disastrous than helpful if the transition is not velvety. As sighted by one of the professors from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, integrating K-12 to the educational system is like overhauling the whole system and it obviously require generous time to bring about. Ironically, DepEd keeps reassuring that the time is ample and they will do it gradually. Then if it is true, why was it that most if not all of the kindergarten teachers who underwent the 2-day training for the new kindergarten curriculum have lots of uncertainties in understanding it? In essence, the teachers are the ones who will transmit the program to the students but if they are less capable and less qualified then it may turn ineffectual and waste of time. CHAWEE: Amor Cielo says: My take on the K+12, although the purpose or the intention of the proponents of this additional school year in the Philippine educational system is perfectly everyone parents dream for their kids – to give them the quality of education at par with the global standards, I feel that it is not ideal in our current educational set-up. I deem that before we must be able to successfully attain the global standards that we are aiming for, the government should first look at the current logistics involving the educational system. The following should be first address which has long been a problem ever since. Two of my maids from Mindoro experienced the following: * Classroom shortage – my maid can attest that in Mindoro there are classes held under the tree. * Book Shortage – in their school those who are in lower section has a ratio of 1:7 usage. *  PC usage – only those in the first section has a chance to use the computers. * Teachers’ low salary –Teaching is regarded as a noble profession; they should given proper respect and just compensation / benefits due to them. * Teacher to student ratio – 45 to 50 students or more in one classroom. * Lack of basic facilities needed to provide good learning environment – clean comfort rooms, laboratories, libraries, gymnasium, drinking fountain for potable water, clinic). JOEL: another important thing to consider is that: * Parents have to shell out more money (for transportation and food) for the education of their children. * The government does not have the money to pay for two more years of free education, since it does not even have the money too fully support today’s ten years. DepEd must first solve the lack of classrooms, furniture and equipment, qualified teachers, and error-free textbooks. * We can do in ten years what everyone else in the world takes 12 years to do. Why do we have to follow what the rest of the world is doing? Filipinos right now are accepted in prestigious graduate schools in the world, even with only ten years of basic education. * As far as the curriculum is concerned, DepEd should fix the current subjects instead of adding new ones. The problem is the content, not the length, of basic education. As an editorial put it, we need to have better education, not more education. * A high school diploma will not get anybody anywhere, because business firms will not hire fresh high school graduates. * While students are stuck in Grades 11 and 12, colleges and universities will have no freshmen for two years. This will spell financial disaster for many private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). * The drop-out rate will increase because of the two extra years. More fundamentally adding two more school years would only exacerbate the situation. * While public education is free, a political youth group estimates that a student would still need an average of P20,000 per school year to cover transportation, food, school supplies and other schooling expenses. * Also, based on the latest Family Income and Expenditure Survey, families prioritize spending for food and other basic needs over their children’s school needs. Two more years for basic education would inevitably translate to higher dropout rate. * Former Education secretary Mona Valisno stated in a separated study  that DepEd needs at least P100 billion to fully address the shortage of 93,599 classrooms and 134,400 seats and P63 million for textbooks and scholarships ESPLENIA: Objectively, the program is good. But the important thing is what does the public say. Hindrances and opposing minds are there. additional years means additional expenses Thus, an extra effort of explaining is needed as our DepEd secretary brother Luistro Armin explained, let us not look at it as expenses but rather more of an investment. traditionally poor families have their children worked right after high school.On the brighter side, k-12 envisions that graduates of senior high school are equipped with skills to get better job opportunities even if they would not pursue college which means a better income for the family.K-12 is not a perfect program though through years of implementation DepEd were open for criticisms and suggestions. Since, one of its biggest problems is the resources. Lack of classrooms, teachers, textbooks and other materials yet budget in education increases still it is not enough but, arising the spirit of unity. This is not just Deped program or b rother Luistro’s but instead it is a Filipino program for the Filipinos. Positively, if the people see that it is viable, help from LGUs and private sectors will pour in. JOEL: History speaks itself that we had gone through BRIDGE, BEC, SEC and many changes in our curriculum. Hope this would be the last; we are unique and adaptable to any kind environment. We Filipinos are survivors. As they say, â€Å"bahala na†¦Ã¢â‚¬  let’s just cross the bridge when we get there. Prepared by: Joel A. Raz In conclusion, let me say that the K to 12 program does not only affect DepEd teachers and personnel—it affects EVERYBODY. But as we all know, we are â€Å"prisoners† and we cannot question the authorities; we have become victims of the circumstances. However, I realized that regardless of whatever program is being implemented by the government, or DepEd, or CHED for that matter, what matters is the dedication of the teachers. How are we willing to go farther and further and give it all we’ve got, even if there’s nothing  left of us to give? It is not a question of how good is the program; it is a question of how are the teachers willing to answer the call of fidelity to the noblest profession.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Infalation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Infalation - Essay Example Many types of inflations can have a wide range of different influences, consequences and amends. There is no rigorously binding definition of arrays of situations in cost increase; still some clues can be given as it follows: Extreme High Inflation could array anyplace between 50% and 100%.High Inflation is a condition in which the price increase of, 30%-50% in a year. Both types can be static or hazardously speed up to enter in a hyperinflation state. Cost Push Inflation this occurs when rise in the costs are came about to the consumer which causes increased prices. Higher prices can develop from rise in the prices of the confinement, increasing interest grades or increasing import prices. Demand Pull Inflation this happens when the issue for commodity and services surmounts the supplying. In this case, the increase need extends to an increase in the cost of the under supplied commodities and services, i.e. too much money is tracking too few commodities (Gert D et al, 2000.p.83-107). Recipients of funds as the original value of refund falls overtime, all other become equivalent. Holders of real pluses such as place or any land whose assess can keep pace with the increasing cost level. On the other hand, the most adverse affect of inflating is that it cramps the economic growth. Inflation brings down the original value of money capital overtime. It scales down the will to save and interest. Hence, it apprehends the economic build up of the society (M.Jeya Chandra et al, 2005, p.723-730). Inflation impacts different groups of people unevenly. The big producers and the businessman can attain a lot from the inflation. Inflation is greatly poignant the common man. In the recent days, the prices of all goods like rice, vegetables, meats, fruits etc are increasing rapidly that a common man has to think first before buying all these things. Cost of all these are raising but the income of a common man is not rising according to it. Hence, the common man is in financial obligation due to this inflation. We see many cars

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Management- Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management- Strategies - Essay Example The growth of the specialty discount industry is attributed to the wide selection of merchandise that the stores carried and their everyday low pricing strategy. Full line chains perceived this segment as â€Å"category killers† since their merchandise line-up could not offer the same amount of shelf space and square footage to any one product category. Research shows that consumers are likely to find what they are looking for in specialty stores than they would in full line discount stores. Buying preferences and buying patterns of consumers also change more often (Gamble, p.957). The full-line discount segment is also growing faster than the U.S. economy. The entire retail discount industry was both rapidly going into consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, liquidation, and bankruptcy. Rivalry in this sector revolves around store location, pricing, and promotion. The advent of consolidation will make it easier for Wal-Mart to merge with or acquire smaller retail stores in the U.S and abroad. Considering that Wal-Mart is one of the leading stores in the industry, they have the bargaining power over their suppliers which in effect would give them pricing advantages over other retailers. If a Wal-Mart moves into a community, chances are the other retailers in that community, especially if they are privately owned are going to lose money and may even be forced to close down. SinceWal-Mart is the largest retailer in the United States and number 1 on the Fortune 500 list, they have the ability to lower their prices and therefore can force other retailers out of business because they can not match Wal-Marts low prices (Pereira et al, 2002). Business level strategies describes how firms outperform each other and enjoy such competitive advantage over time. Michael Porter identifies three generic strategies: cost leadership,differentiation, and focus (Dess & Lumpkin, 2002). From the 1940s to the 1970s, the cola industry was dominated by

Marketing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Marketing - Term Paper Example It is considered a revolutionary advancement that has been made in the field of customer services. The root of CRM process can be traced back in sales where CR managers study customer buying patterns and trends in order to match service levels to revenue expectations alongside satisfying the needs of the customers. The underlying rationale behind this management process is to bring down the rate of customer complaints thereby addressing their issues at the earliest and henceforth rewarding customer loyalty and maintain a high customer retention rate. In order to carry the process effectively special computer programs have also been designed. Driven by customer economics, companies have been implanting the CRM process for a long time. The CRM initiatives are directed towards formulating effective CRM strategies in order to support the overall business strategy as well as the sales and marketing department. A better coordination and synergy between these elements process proves that th e CRM process has delivered its promise of increasing the customer loyalty and maximizing the shareholder value (Raihan, Hamid & Akhir, 2013). The primary objective of CRM as explained by the author is to obtain a better understanding of customer requirements and preferences which are directed towards offering the customers with high quality buying experience as well as services thereby leading to customer loyalty. CRM system involves processes such as data warehousing and mining, online order tracking, multi-channel ordering system, call centre and so son and so forth are used as the means to deliver the expected result. During the age of mass production, business world involved competitions that catered to widen customer bases for companies by carrying out efficient production (Oztaysi, Sezgin & Ozok, 2011). New competitions and structural modifications in the process of exchange have led to the establishment of the relationship archetype for the creation of long term relationship s between suppliers and customers. The reasons that can be attributed to this fact are globalization of business, deregulation and internalization, shorter product life cycle, information technology advancements and the evolving association between customer retention and company profitability (Osarenkhoe & Bennani, 2007). CRM involves the planned usage of process, information, technology and people in order to manage customer’s relationship with the company thereby supervising the marketing, sales, services and support division of a company. This process is carried out across the whole customer life cycle (Tu & Yang, 2013). Customer knowledge is a crucial aspect that plays a major role in ensuring a successful CRM process. It is a critical asset and thus, proper collection, sharing and managing and sharing of customer knowledge can help a company to gain competitive advantage over its peers. However, over the past few years it has been witnessed that customer knowledge receiv ed very little attention while CRM strategies were formulated. Customer knowledge/data i.e. the knowledge from customers can be obtained by interacting with them in order to understand their needs and requirements in order to provide them with superior quality services (Khodakarami & Chan, 2013). CRM system comprises of a group of information sources that enables a company to gather, store and analyze customer data in order to provide an exhaustive view of their customers. As can be seen from the theories provided above,

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Responding to a Prompt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Responding to a Prompt - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that  the language of British and English culture had a huge impact on Southern China and Hong Kong’s society for over one hundred years. The early contacts between the European merchants and missionaries on one side and the Chinese officials and emperors, on the other hand, clearly accepted the high social standing of the Chinese. Even after China’s defeat in the 1840 Opium Wars, the country’s rulers and public regularly encouraged the notion of restoring China’s honor. Every war, even when China was defeated resulted in more nationalist awareness among the Chinese. Even when they were affected by Japanese modernization after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the Chinese distinguished between fundamental values and techniques for use. Adopting Chinese tradition as the foundation and applying Western ideals for application was a concept advanced by some Chinese philosophers in the late 19th century.This paper stresses that  the developments after the Chinese Revolution showed that all foreign impacts were partially incorporated into the domestic struggles resulting in unique Chinese experiments and strategies. Even when China opted to adopt Western theories and methods, concepts about society and nature they did it from a standing of independence and self-confidence. Unlike India, China was not a colony. It was a semi-colony under different domination by the Japanese and European powers.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Write a summary of the movie William Kunstler Disturbing The Universe, Review

Write a summary of the William Kunstler Disturbing The Universe, please include connections with the law and how it is used - Movie Review Example For instance, while presenting the freedom riders, he presented the case critically leading to success. Through circumstantial evidence, Kunstler presented several cases during then activism period with a higher rate of success. In the speech presented about racism, he illustrated the power of segregation by white and considered himself a racist because he was white. The movie highlights the life of Kunstler and addressed several legal issues including The Bill of Rights which is pertinent with regard to racism. The defending of the Roman Catholic Activists including Daniel and Phillip Berrigan illustrated support of freedom of expression. Therefore, Kunstler was known for defending the activist groups notoriously. However, after ascending to stardom he lost focus and lived a life filled with self-importance and loss of perspective. The brilliance in legal issues led to several successes with the lowest point being in the failed negotiation in 1971 for the inmates at Attica Correctional facility in New York. The movie expresses the character of Kunstler succinctly and

Monday, September 23, 2019

A Doll's House Play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Doll's House Play - Essay Example It would also be discussed whether her decision to leave are justified or not. The Fisher girl costume that Nora wore in the play symbolizes the pretentious lifestyle that she was living as this was used to show that she was hiding under this costume. Italy as used in the play also symbolizes the false image that was portrayed by Nora. The macaroon that was eaten by Nora also showed Nora’s deceit to her husband. Nora was deceptive to her husband and she definitely hid her feelings from him and this was the symbolism of the Macaroon in the play. â€Å"Are you happy now? There - there - there - don't look like a frightened little dove - the whole thing's just sheer imagination. Now, you must rehearse your tarantella - with the tambourine. I'll go sit in the inner room and shut the doors, so you can make all the noise you like - I shan't hear a thing.† (Ibsen 190). The tarantella dance by Nora also suggests her unhappiness as a wife and a mother. This tarantella dance was used to show Nora’s struggle with life and her agitation with her husband. â€Å"Nora, darling, you're dancing as if your life depended on it!† (Ibsen 204). Evidence to show that Nora is unhappy with the life that she leads as a wife and mother was when she realized that she had been hiding under another person’s shadow and pretending to be what she was not. ... She was also not happy that, she had to secretly work in order to pay off her loan as it was illegal for a woman to procure a loan without the consent of her husband. These were signs that she was unhappy with the way she lived as a wife and a mother as she could no longer continue living like that. Nora was blackmailed by Krogstad and it was actually after this that readers would learn that she is unhappy. She then begins to consider her concept of freedom and decide within herself whether she was happy or not. It was at this point that the reader begins to discover that she was unhappy with the life she led as a wife to Torvald. Thus, it was clear that Nora was unhappy with the manner at which she had been made to cope with the orders and edicts of her husband. â€Å"Still it was tremendous fun sitting there working and earning money. It was almost like being a man.† (Ibsen 162) It was now clear that she wanted to break free from her familial obligations as she sought to pur sue her own ambitions. Nora made her decision to leave after coming to the sudden realization that she was living her father’s life. She discovered that her marriage was actually contracted in order to please her father and the dictates of the society. It was Nora’s realization of the truth about her life that influenced her decision to leave her husband; quit her marital status and abandon her children. She wanted to be independent and she was of the opinion that, being under a man that her heart was not right with would hinder her from really being the kind of independent woman she would have loved to be. â€Å"It's a sweet little bird, but it gets through a terrible amount of money. You wouldn't believe how much it costs a man when he's got a little song-bird like you!† (Ibsen

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Role of Ammonia in Hepatic Encephalopathy Essay Example for Free

Role of Ammonia in Hepatic Encephalopathy Essay The human liver is truly amazing, however little is ever said about the organ. Most people probably wouldn’t be able to locate their liver if they’re asked to do so. The second largest organ in the body and weighing about 3 pounds, the liver is located right under your rib cage on the right side of your body. It is the only organ that is able to regenerate. While most organs replace damage with scar tissue, the liver has the ability to replace damaged tissues with new cells. The primary function of the liver is to process food that has been consumed into nutrients and filter out any harmful substances that may be the bloodstream. The liver is responsible for keeping our blood suitable for our bodies. With that understood it saddens me to say that there is an estimated 30 million people living in the U.S. with liver failure. These 30 million people are unable to filter out any harmful toxins that may be flowing in their bloodstream. With time they may began to suffer from Hepatic Encephalopathy. Described as episodes of confusion and altered levels of consciousness Hepatic Encephalopathy is caused by to an accumulation of ammonia in the bloodstream that would usually be filtered out by the liver. Although Hepatic encephalopathy is completely reversible with treatment there are very few treatments available. Pharmaceutical have saved many lives through experimental studies and treatments. Although very controversial; many people choose to participate in these studies in hopes of increasing their chances to live a normal life despite suffering from an ailment. I chose to do my assignment on a double-blinded study on the use of Glycerol Phenylbutyrate (also known as Ravicti) in patients with Episodic Hepatic Encephalopathy. The study was completed by Dr. Don Rockey who is the Chief of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. While delivering his oral presentation which he titled â€Å"Randomized†, Dr. Rockey mentioned â€Å"the study results provide new insight into the importance of ammonia in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy. Based on its safety profile, Hyperion’s investigational drug, Glycerol Phenylbutyrate shows promise as a novel therapeutic agent.† The study was conducted with a total of 178 patients selected randomly. 50 of who were on the drug Rifaximin which is a drug also commonly used to prevent episodes of heptatic encephalopany. 29 of the 178 patients were placed on placebo and the remaining 30 patients were placed on the active drug Ravicti. If effective those on the active drug Ravicti should expect to see fewer levels of ammonia in the blood, thus resulting in fewer episodes of heptatic encephalopany. Ho = Patients placed on Ravicti will see no change in ammonia levels in the bloodstream and will continue to have Hepatic Encephalopathy episodes. H1 = Patients placed on Ravicti will see change in ammonia levels in the bloodstream and will have little to no Hepatic Encephalopathy episodes. The results from the study conclude that among the 119 patients not on Rifaximin showed a highly statistical significant reduction among treated patients with 10% vs. 32% (p= 0.003.) Among the patients in the active part of the study experienced fewer Hepatic Encephalopathy episodes 21% vs. 36% (p=0.021.) Those in the active study also reported ammonia levels to be significantly lower 45.7 vs. 58.15 umol/L, (p=0.0036) (p 0.01). A concern I noticed while researching this study is the accuracy of the statistical results since this study was two sided this means that curtain results were expected by both the test subjects and its administers. This study was also done on a small population of people, which is a bias in itself since the sample population lacks diversity. Factors like diet, environment and previous medications were not mentioned in the study which also can contribute to hepatic encephalopathy episodes. Another key factor that is important to gaining a reasonable sample through population is a correlation between test subjects. It was never mentioned in the article what type of liver failure the subjects suffer from nor did the article specify the severity of their condition. Works Cited Annes, Shari. HALT-HE Study Underscores Role of Ammonia in Hepatic Encephalopathy.Drugs.com MedNews. Micromedex, Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. http://www.drugs.com/clinical_trials/halt-he-study-underscores-role-ammonia-hepatic-encephalopathy-14702.html. A New and Unique Way to Measure Liver Function. Liver Disease Questions. Liver Association of America, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. http://www.hepquant.com/liver-disease-faq.php.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Macro Environment Analysis | Australia

The Macro Environment Analysis | Australia The purpose of this report is to identify social-cultural and ecological environment which access to the major trends and forces can relate to develop tourism industry in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. This report suppose to use the result of macro-environment scanning on social-culture and ecological category to analysis the impact on customers, competition and suppliers. Moreover, the opportunities and threats identified from the impact that affects the tourism industry in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Macro-environment analysis divides into two categories which are social-culture and ecological. Each category investigated from five variables. As reported by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2010), Australias population growth in the result of two factors: natural increase and net overseas migration. In 2009, Out of the total population growth, 40% was contributed by natural increase and 60% was contributed by net overseas. It is estimated that the resident population will reach 22.33 million at 30 June 2010, an increase of 377,100 people since 30 June 2009. The population growth of Queensland was the second fastest of all states and territories, with an averagely growth rate of 2.5% each year since 2005 and the population reached 4.51 million in 2010 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2009). According to the latest published data from Australia Bureau of Statistics(ABS)(2009) report ¼Ã…’resulting in the population of Brisbane had a steady averaging growth rate of 2.3% per annum over the past five years, resident population increasing from 973,931 to 1,067,279 since 2005 to 2010. 2.1.2 Multiculturalism Australia is a vast melting pot of different races and nationalities. As stated by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008), in the past forty years immigration was a significant contributor to the Australias population growth. Approximately 6.6 million (25% of Australias total population) from around 200 countries have immigrated to Australia since the Second World War which ended in 1945 to 2006-2007. The largest group of overseas-born residents was born in United Kingdom, accounting for 5.4% of Australias total population, followed by New Zealand (2.4%), China (1.6%), India (1.4%) and Italy (1.0%) (ABS, 2008). According to the data of Multicultural Affairs of Queensland report (2010), in 2006, there were 699,438 Queensland residents born overseas, accounting for 17.9% of Queenslands total population. Brisbane is also a city with diverse cultures. As reported by the Brisbane City Council (2006), the proportion of the Brisbane population born overseas was 23% (198.630 people). 2.1.3 Disability According to the data, there are four million (18.5%) people who had a disability in 2009 and more than a million people had service core activity limitation (ABS, 2009) in Australia. From 2003 to 2009, the disability number decreased from 22.1% to 17.9% (ABS, 2009). In Queensland, the physical disability dropped from 18.3% to 14.7% during 2003 to 2009(ABS, 2005). In addition, the mental and behavioral disability dropped from 3.8% to 3.1 %(ABS, 2005). In Australia, about 55% people aged over 65 had a disability in 1998 as well as in 2003(ABS, 2005). Approximately 42% males and 39% female between aged 65 and 69 had a disability in 2003.Between age 70 and 74, the rate of male with disability and female with disability increased to 45% and 46 % respectively ( ABS, 2005). 2.1.4 Age Age is normally structure divided into three parts: Children (under 15 years of age), working age population (aged between 15 to 64 years) and older people (aged 65 years and over). From the 30 June 2009 to 30 June 2010, the population of Children rose by 44,600 and it was 22.0% of total population. The Australias largest age group was taken up by working age population, the proportion of this group increased from 66.9% in 1990 to 67.6% in 2010. The population of older people and over increased by 94,800, with a proportion of 13.5%. (ABS, 2010) In 2010, the 67.5% (2,676,767) of the Queenslands total population was taken up by working age population, followed by Children 20.4% (807,065) and older people 12.5% ( 480,136) (ABS, 2010). In Brisbane, in 2009, the 68.9% of Brisbanes population was accounted for working age population, followed by children (19.9%) and older people (11.1%) (ABS, 2010). 2.1.5 Education During the 1980s, the rate of participation in education was increasing steadily and the educational level became higher by 1990s (ABS, 2005). In 1976 ¼Ã…’there were 12% in their 20s were people attending educational institution, however this rate increased to 23% in 2001(ABS, 2005). In addition, according to the data, the number of people between the age of 20 and 29 who had achieved higher education was increasing from 1976 to 2010. In 1976, there were 13% people with a bachelor degree compared with 36% in 2001(ABS, 2005). In 2010, 20% people were enrolled a course and about 39% of these attended higher education (ABS, 2010). In Queensland, the rate of high-level education participation increased from 22% to 55% during the period of 1981 to 2003 in age group 20 to 29. Furthermore, there were 57% people had school qualification in 2001 compared 38% in 1991 in Brisbane (ABS, 2005). 2.2 Ecological 2.2.1 Waste and recycling According to paper presented by the then Department of Environment and Heritage to the Productivity Commissions inquiry into waste generation and resource efficiency in Australia, during 2002-03, Australians generated 32.4 million tones of solid waste (domestic, commercial and industrial), with QLD generating 2.86 million tones of that waste. Of the 2.86 million tones generated, 347,100 tones (12.14%) were recovered (Queensland EPA, 2006). The estimation of waste generation and division in Australia from 2006 to 2007; total disposed was 21,069 tonnes; recycled was 22,707 tonnes; total generated was 43,777 tonnes and the division rates was 52%. According to the data which estimated per capita waste generation and diversion rates for Australia from 2006 to 2007, there were 4,181,000 people in Queensland. The average disposal was 1,030 kilograms per capita; and recycled 900 kilograms for a division rate of 47%. It is lower than NSW (52%) and VIC (62%), but it is higher than WA (33%) (Davis, G. Herat, S. 2007). 2.2.2 Temperature Change According to the recent climate and geophysical trends in Australia, Australias continental average temperature has increased by approximately o.8 degree since 1910. Most of this rise occurred after 1950, with 1998 being the warmest year, and the 1990s and 1980s being the warmest and second warmest decades, respectively (Collins 2000). These trends are consistent with those measured globally. Since 1951, mean temperatures have increased 0.1-0.2 degree per decade over most of Australia, with the greatest warming inland, particularly in Queensland and the southern half of Western Australia (WA), although some cooling has occurred in southern Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) (Suppiahet al . 2001).Night-time temperatures have increased more than daytime temperatures (0.96 degree per century for minima 0.56 degree per century for maxima; Suppiah et al. 2001). Average temperatures in Queensland have risen in both summer (0.07) and winter (0.08) over 20 years. 2.2.3 Water Consumption According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics (2006) that farming industry had accounted for 65% of total water consumed in Australia in the year 2004-2005. And, 90% of total water was used by farm in the year 2007-2008. 22% of total water in Australia was used by Queensland in 2006, 24.5% in 2007 and 29.2% in 2008. In Brisbane, according to Brisbane City Council, Environment Waste (2010) consumption falling from 300 litres per day to as low as 127 litres per person per day. 2.2.4 Biodiversity Across Australia, the number of animal species that were threatened every year was increase from 312 in 2001 to 427 in 2009, and within those 427 species, 46% of them were just injured, 41% were accounted as serious injured and 13% of them were listed as extinct. According to Biodiversity (2010), Queensland holds 85% of Australias native mammals (239 species), 72% of native birds (562 species), over 50% of native reptiles (473 species) and 12888 species of native plants in the year 2010. According to the Threatened (2010), approximately 40% of Brisbanes vertebrate animals and 10% of vascular plants in 1500 plants species and 523 vertebrate animals were threatened. And, according to Protecting (2010), under a rise in temperature of more than 2 degrees and increasing CO2, 21% 52% of animal species could be extinct, this affect Brisbane, Queensland and across Australia. 2.2.5 Land use Approximately 55.3% of Australian land was used by agriculture industry in 2006 and Queensland had the highest proportion among all other states (83.1%) and in 2009, 54% of Australian land was managed by agriculture business and Queensland was still the highest among all other states (82%) in the same year. 3.0 Trends 3.1 Social- Culture Trends Based on the research data, it is easy to see an increasing trend because of the high fertility and birth rates with the total population increasing stably and quickly in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. According to this current trend, the numbers of population in the future 10 years will also stably increase because of the overseas immigration and natural increase. (Population variable). As well number of the old people over age 64 increasing significantly during the last 20 years which has resulted in the population in Australia becomes older. In addition, the number of old people with a disability has increased and accounts for half of the old population. It means Australia has an issue with an aging population and in few years, it will become more and more salient factor in government issues (Age variable). Furthermore, because of the increasing number of migrants, Australia becomes a multicultural country. It can be expected that not migration from different countries will keep increasing during the next decade from different countries (Multiculturalism variable). In education, as the data showed above, the number of people participating in education increased quickly and stably during the last 30 years. In addition, the data indicates the number of people achieving high-level education was increasing a lot in Australia, as well as in Queensland and Brisbane. (Education variable). 3.2 Ecological trends In Australia waste generation kept increasing from 2002 to 2007, but recycling is also increase during that period. In Queensland, the per capita waste generation is lower than other states. The temperature has kept increasing since 1910, because of the global warming, particularly in southern Queensland. It has risen in both summer and winter. Every year, more and more species of animals and plants are in danger because of land development or climate change 4.0 Forces 4.1 Social-culture forces Along with the increasing of the ageing population, the ageing tourists become potential tourism market segmentation. The growth of the older with disability forces the tourism industry to develop more humanized infrastructures to meet the needs of the disability market. The increasing number of participants in higher education forces the firm to become more productive and competitive in the marketplace. 4.2 Ecological forces The waste and recycling management is not only to affect the local people living, but also it affects the tourism industry development. The global temperatures growth is not only happening in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, but the temperature increase will impact on the natural environment resource. Hence, it will impact the tourism development in the long-term. 5.0 Impacts on customers, competitors and suppliers First, on the impact of customer, the trend of the increase aging group suggests that the old and retired people will be a big potential market of the tourism industry in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Furthermore, from the suppliers aspect, they should focus on how to create an interesting tourism product and design the destination to attract the senior group and retired people in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Lastly, about the impact on competitors, for Australia and Queensland, the competitors will be the other countries and other states. In Brisbane, the competition among the tourism organizations will be to special travel products to catch the attention of old tourists. Second, the growth of disability among old or people affect customers in three levels: there will be many tourists with a disability. Also, build more humanized infrastructures are good for the disability tourists. Suppliers need to create healthy tourism for these people with a disability and provide appropriate service. Competitors for this market will be more at the Australia and Queensland level, but in Brisbane, there should be little competition in this target market, because not too many firms focus on disability tourists. Third, the increase of people achieving high level education improves the rate of customers satisfaction in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. In addition, the competition among the firms shows on the recruitment, because all the firms want to employ highly competent people in Australia, as well as in Queensland and Brisbane. Moreover, high level educational staffs that have good skills and provide good service to customers have positive impacts on suppliers In Australia and Queensland. Fourth, the impacts of loss of biodiversity means loss of tourism potential and reduction in the demand from customers, as there is not too much to see which will be the same for each of Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. The firms in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane will suffer from the lack of product; also, the firms might face the problem of close down. In addition, there will be fewer products to sell. Fifth, as a result of global warming resulting in rising sea levels there will be less and less land to use which will reduce the opportunity for customer to travel in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. For firms, the competition among firms will be intense in three levels because lack of the land will reduce the amount of tourism destination. For the suppliers it will be difficult to provide a good land for tourism. Last, waste and recycle management to advance customers protect environment and reduce wasting. In addition, encourage green tourism participation of customers in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Suppliers provide more products of eco-tourism in the tourism industries. For firms, sustainable tourism will be a mainstream tourism product in the marketplace, so it is necessary to create green product in tourism industry of Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. 6.0 Opportunities (in general) that arise from this impact Australia is a travel destination country which has wonderful natural environment and heritage resources and the speed of development of tourism industries is growing fast in Australia. Although there are some negative impacts of the macro environmental issues on customers, competition and suppliers, there are still opportunities for tourism development. The increasing number of old and disability tourists will bring Australia, Queensland and Brisbane more tourism opportunity which can help the local stakeholders to be more clear about the target market. From the target market analysis, the local infrastructure and facilities will be built more concern about the older and disability people to provide them higher quality service to satisfy their travel expectation. For example, the destination can provide the nursing facilities for the older and disability people which would provide an advantage over other travel destinations. Targeting the market of old and disability tourists with appropriate infrastructure will decrease the effectiveness of the competition from international tourism market. The increasing employees with a higher level of the education and training can promote the quality of the tourism service and cater for the technological tourist. It should be an advantage for Australia, Queensland and Brisbane in the marketing share in the tourism industry. Also, it can increasingly attract employees who have hospitality talent to work here. The Australia waste and recycling management which is a long term environmental protection can provide the travelers a natural protected travel destination. Also, the local waste and recycling management can influence the travelers concern the environmental issues and choose the green tourism product and services. The suppliers will invent more green tourism products and services not only to concern the environment, but also promote more travelers enjoy the eco-tourism in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. 7.0 Threats that emanate from this impact Firstly, in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, the threats from the aging market and disability market classified into the same category, as they are both potential consumers with special needs. However, there is a significant difference between the spending on the ordinary consumers and consumers with special needs. For instance, in order to make the tourism market accessible, the requirement to build approachable facilities, recruit nursing staff and design tourism packages for these special markets significantly increase the organizations budget and the market prices. Thus, for the disabilities and aging customers, they are faced with the high travelling prices and the need of special assistance which may result their dissatisfaction. For suppliers, these market lines may be a threat to them in reaching the organizations substantial long-term goals. Furthermore, the increasing costs of integrated reconstruction, recruitment and innovation also threat the competitors in tourism in dustry, which make it more difficult to become competitive in the marketplace. Secondly, the high level of customer satisfaction has no negative impact on tourism organizations in Australia, as well as Queensland and Brisbane. Moreover, it brings the high customer retention and excellent reputation for the organizations. In addition, from the competitors perspective in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, the increasing demand for higher education employees is a threat to organizations to retain the outstanding employees and maintain low turnover rate. In addition, the good performances of workers lead to an underlying threat that is the workers will demand pay rise in the future and affect the profit of the suppliers in Australia and Queensland. Thirdly, in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, as tourism industry is a big contributor to economy, the loss of customer demand will lead to the decline in organizations profit. Moreover, the lack of product will bring a threat to tourism organizations, which will influence the width of product line. Fourthly, as lacking of opportunities for customers to travel to Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, tourism organizations need to face threats from other travel destinations in international, domestic and local dimensions. For competitors, the reduce amount of tourism destinations will intensify the difficulty of Australia to be competitive in international tourism marketplace. However, for both Queensland and Brisbane, the reducing number of destinations may create barriers for new entrants, thus avoid competitions. From the suppliers perspective, the lack of attractive landscape creates a potential earning loss threat. 8.0 Conclusion The

Friday, September 20, 2019

A literature review on corporate social responsibility

A literature review on corporate social responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility has earned much salience over the last decades in academic literature. The literature offers various interpretations of the concept of corporate social responsiveness. The concept is understood as a process or set of processes on the way a firm approaches its environment. It is argued that business and society are interwoven: society has certain expectations regarding business and therefore the firm has responsibilities towards society. Hence, being a steward of the needs of society is deemed to be a socially responsible, appropriate, and natural act. The first book acknowledged on CSR is the Social Responsibilities of the Businessman by Howard R. Bowen in the mid 1950s. But, the term CSR came in widespread use in the early 1970s. In fact, it owes its origin due to the globalisation which took place after many multinational corporations were formed. In brief, globalisation means an increase in international transactions in markets for goods, services and factors of production and a growth in institutions that straddle international barriers. All these developments have brought in force the corporate governance mechanisms to ascertain fairness and transparency as well as social responsibility. Thus, this is how CSR was shaped and came into existence in the corporate world. 2.1.1 CSR across Countries CSR, also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social performance, is all but a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model where companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. CSR has been defined in various ways in different countries, of about being the capacity building for sustainable livelihoods from Ghana to about giving back to society from Philippines. Conventionally, in the United States, CSR has been presented in a philanthropic model whereby companies make profits and then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving. As such, according to Caroll (2003), The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons and voluntary interaction with the stakeholders. Ideally and broadly, the concept of CSR is a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure its support to law, ethical standards, and international norms. 2.1.1 Views on CSR According to Hancock (2005), CSR can be viewed through 3 ways namely: Sceptic view According to this view, the notion of CSR is opposed to democracy and freedom, frustrating business focus on its purpose of wealth creation. Milton Friedman best defines this approach: Few trends would so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as they possibly can. Utopian view A utopian view of CSR reflects the idea that companies have a prior duty to anyone touched by their activity, their stakeholders rather than their shareholders, and especially the vulnerable that may be exploited by the companys operation. This is based on the work of Evan and Freeman who are for the stakeholder theory where a corporation must recognise and respect the vital interests of each of its surrounding stakeholders. Realist view This view gathers the greatest following of an alliance model advocated by Patricia Werhane. It states that CSR is not simply about whatever funds and expertise companies choose to invest in communities to help resolve social problems. But, it is also about the integrity with which a company governs itself, fulfils its mission, lives by its values, engages with its stakeholders, measures its impacts and reports on its activities. 2.1.2 The Key Drivers CSR is seen by Porter and Van Der Linde (2000, p. 131) as a competitive driver that requires appropriate resources. CSR programmes, however, on their own, have certain main drivers which are as follow: Bottom Line Effect This is the most relevant driver of CSR programmes as it incorporates a socially responsible element into corporate practice. As John Elkington (1997) rightly underlined that many companies exhibit corporate citizenship through charity or philanthropy. Nevertheless, a new perspective evolved over time for some corporate stakeholders. Success of a corporation is now weighted and defined by evaluating businesses using a Triple Bottom Line comprised of its social, environmental and financial performance. Managing Risk An endeavour to adopt CSR programme has been the gain in market share, key personnel and investment which pioneering companies enjoy when they seriously address labour and green issues. In fact, corporations implement such a programme to manage risks and ensure legal compliance as denoted by Levine Michael A. (2008). They try to avoid investigation, litigation, prosecution, regulation or legislation. Influence of the Corporate Disasters There has been an increased perception of greed amidst senior business officials in the corporate world following corporate scandals affecting Enron, WorldCom and the like. CSR is important in counteracting allegations of corporate greed. As a result, as described by Hancock (2005) in his book, corporations are now shifting away from the philanthropic approach towards CSR and are moving towards the greater alignment of CSR with business strategy and corporate governance. Lower Equity Risk Premium Reputation Management Corporations can face economic damage when their corporate reputations and brands are assailed or sales are affected by consumer boycotts. As argued by some rating agencies, a comprehensive CSR programme will lower a companys equity risk premium. A direct correlation between reputation and financial outcome measures share price and credit rating (Hancock, 2005) has been illustrated through a model designed by the global public relations company Bell Pottinger. In fact, companies may face a variety of legal and reputational risks if they do not have adequate social compliance or corporate social responsibility/sustainability programs in place. Customer Loyalty In todays markets, companies have to focus on building and maintaining customer loyalty. As proposed by Zhou Y. (2009), this can be done through a CSR programme which builds loyalty with customers by offering a competitive advantage in a marketplace where consumers find ethically delivered or produced goods and services. Stakeholder Activism Investment Incentives As perceived by Visser, W. (2008), CSR is encouraged through the activism of stakeholder or pressure groups which often address the alleged failure of the market and government policy. The trend of socially responsible investment gives CSR an incentive where funds are screened on ethical, social and environmental criteria. Thus, this proactively encourages businesses to inform shareholders of potential risks and issues and it helps them to better understand their stakeholders, including shareholders. According to Hill Knowltown (2006), surveys have indicated that analysts place as much importance on corporate reputation as they do on financial performance. 2.2 Theoretical Review A theoretical framework can be constructed around the several theories that emerged to explain the reasons behind environmental reporting over the time. These are as follow: Operational Efficiency Theory Operational Efficiency occurs when the right combination of people, process, and technology to boost the productivity and value of any business operation, while reducing cost of routine operations to a desired level. In the context of CSR, operational efficiencies can be achieved through managing impending risks and liabilities more effectively and efficiently through CSR tools and perspectives by reducing costs; streaming information to stakeholders concerning the investment community for better transparency and by using corporate responsibility and sustainability approaches within business decision-making to result in new market opportunities, newly developed manufacturing processes that can be expanded to other plants, regions or markets. Social Contract Theory This theory dates from the classic period of history but it took its modern form between the sixteenth and eighteen centuries with the best known philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau who talk on social contract. Rousseau, in fact, conceptualised the individual-society relationship as a symbiotic situation whereby the two parties mutually confer some right to the state in order to maintain social order which makes human life and cohabitation better and to gain benefits of community and safety. In parallel to the social contract, the corporate social theory, pertaining to a firms indirect social obligations, has been advanced as a theoretical basis to explain the practise of CSR by corporations. Accordingly, businesses are bound by the social contract whereby they consent to perform various socially desired actions in return for approval of their objectives and other rewards. This ultimately guarantees its continued existence. Legitimacy Theory The theory is close to the social contract theory. Here, the corporations constantly seek to ensure that they operate within the limits and norms of their respective societies and the outside parties perceive their activities as being legitimate. Society grants legitimacy and power to business. In the long run, those who do not use power in a manner which society considers responsible will tend to lose it. This principle developed by Daviss (1973) is commonly known as the Iron Law of Responsibility. It expresses legitimacy as a societal-level concept and describes the responsibility of business as a social institution that must avoid abusing its power. Thus, this principle expresses a prohibition rather than an affirmative duty, and it applies equally to all companies, regardless of their particular circumstances. According to A.K.H. Khor, the legitimacy theory is fundamentally a system-oriented theory where organisations are viewed as components of the larger social environment within which they exist. Stakeholder Theory A key feature of CSR involves the way that a company engages, involves, and collaborates with its stakeholders including shareholders, employees, debt-holders, suppliers, customers, communities, non-governmental organisations, and governments. Companies can use stakeholder engagement to internalise societys needs, hopes, circumstances into their corporate views and decision-making. While there are many questions about how far a companys responsibilities extend into communities relative to the roles of governments and individual citizens, there is a strong argument that CSR can effectively improve a companys relations with communities and thereby produce some key features that will improve business prospects for its future. Agency Theory This theory comes to explain the relationship that exists between the owners/shareholders and the management. As such the latter is the agent which appointed by the principal (owner/subsidiary) and problems such as the potential moral hazard and conflict of interest are likely to occur. CSR comes as a middle way so that both parties can maximise their gains. As such, when CFP is strong, managers may reduce social expenditures in order to maximise their own short term private gains whereas when CFP weakens, managers will try to offset their disappointing results by engaging in conspicuous social programs, hence increasing their own wealth and that of shareholders as well, pursuant to the managerial opportunism hypothesis by Preston OBannon (1997). 2.2.1 Corporate Social Performance (CSP) In todays competitive market environment, business is confronted with a new set of challenges that are not only economics-related. To survive and prosper, firms must bridge economic and social systems. Maximising shareholder wealth is a necessary but by no means sufficient condition for financial prosperity anymore. A new performance measure called corporate social performance (abbreviated as CSP) is used to capture the performance of a business in the social realm allowing us to be more precise in thinking about corporate social responsibility. CSP defined as a business organizations configuration of principles of social responsibility, processes of social responsiveness, and policies, programs, and observable outcomes as they relate to the firms societal relationships (Wood, 1991), clearly shows that social performance is not limited to corporations only, but also applies to any firm and organisation. 2.2.2 Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) Most of the businesses operate with a view of yielding profits. The financial performance of a company is reflected through its policies and operations in monetary terms. These results are reflected through its return on investment, return on assets, value added, return on sale and growth in sales. Managers work in the best interest of shareholders to maximise profits. Financial performance is the most common, however, it cannot be considered as the only indicator used to measure a firms wealth. A broader definition of financial performance is accompanied by additional indicators such as short-term profits, long-term profits, market value, and other forms of competitive advantage, as noted by Jensen (2001). In todays world, for a firm to achieve a good and high level of CSP, it has to go beyond the limits of its own corporate strategies and adopt views of other stakeholders who may be directly or indirectly related to the company. 2.2.3 Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance Since over the three decades, the study of the correlation between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CSF) has gained much salience. Many studies conducted in this effect have yielded positive correlation, while others produced contradictory results with negative or non-significant different causal directions being found. In effect, there are several competing theoretical models which are proposed to explain three varying findings on the CSP-CFP link. Owing to these differing relationships, I.Y. Maroam (2006) proposes a unified theory of the CSP-CFP link that explain the different relationships that may be observed between CSR and CFP, thus basing itself on the parallels between the business and CSR domains. The concept of CSR instils in corporations the moral responsibility towards society that go beyond the goal of simply making profits for their owners and shareholders (Berman et al., 1999). As Freeman (1984) rightly pointed out that corporations should be socially responsible for both moral and practical (instrumental) reasons, by reflecting a socially responsible posture, a corporation can enhance its own performance. Thus, CSR activities can, inter-alia, be rewarded with more satisfied customers, better employee, improved reputation, and improved access to financial markets, all pertaining to improving financial performance and sustain the business. However, social accomplishments may equally involve certain financial costs which can effectively reduce profits and comparative performance. Hence, Vance (1975) came up with the trade-off hypothesis to show negative linkage between CSP and CFP whereby corporations displaying strong social credentials experience declining stock prices r elative to the market average. 2.2.3.1 CSP as Business Strategic From the above, it is clear that CSP can be used as a business strategy which can contribute to the competitive advantage of firms. A study by N.A. Dentchey (2004) on the effects of CSP on the competitiveness of organisations reveals that CSP should not be thought of an innocent adventure for executives. It is rather a strategy for achieving corporate strategies, which if not carefully implemented, may harm the competitive advantage of the firm. Competitive advantage, as seen by Porter (1996), denotes the ability of a company to outperform others from successful differentiation from rivals actions. This strategic fit between the outside environment and companies internal resources and capabilities (Hoskissoon et al., 1999) results in superior financial results, as indicated by various measures of profitability. Hence, as per Burke and Logsdon (1996), a strategic implementation of social responsibility brings benefits for all since it results in strategic outcomes such as customer loyalty, future purchases, new products, new markets and productivity gains. Arguably, CSP can be a source of competitive disadvantage for firms which regard CSP as an additional cost. Business contributions to social prosperity (CSP) are seen by Keim (1978, p.33) as an investment in public good which is consumed or enjoyed by a number of individuals disregarding the cost sharing. Thus, investing in CSP is likely to bear negative effects for the fir ms which are incurring costs that might otherwise be avoided or that should be borne by others, for example, individuals or government (Aupperle et al., 1985). 2.2.4 CSP, CFP and the Stakeholder Theory Following the above arguments, a new perspective of CSP, based on the stakeholder analysis, emerges to argue furthermore that there exists a positive relationship between CSP and financial performance. As such, S.A. Waddock and S.B. Graves (1997) propose that a tension exists between the firms explicit costs (for instance, payments to bondholders) and its implicit costs to other stakeholders (for example, product quality costs, and environmental costs). Therefore, a firm which tries to outweigh its explicit costs by increasing its socially responsible actions incurs higher implicit costs, resulting in competitive advantage. Thus, high levels of CSP are seen as indicators of superior management by Alexander and Buchholz (1982) which lead to lower explicit costs and enhanced financial performance. The stakeholder theory accompanies the concept of CSR by shedding more light on the issue of social responsibility. This theory is spread over three aspects (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) namely, descriptive, instrumental and normative. While the descriptive aspect describes and explains the theory, the instrumental aspect discloses the cause-effect relationships between stakeholder management practices and improving corporate performance. The normative aspect, on the other hand, as perceived by I.Y. Maroam (2006) emphasizes on the moral imperatives for practising stakeholder management, rather than the business benefits it may provide. A parallelism between the core business domain and the CSR domain will maximise a firms profitability. The stakeholder theory provides a framework for investigating the relationship between CSP and CFP by examining how a change in CSP is related to a change in financial accounting measures. In fact, the two concepts of CSR and stakeholder share the proposition that social responsibility affects financial performance in some way or other. This subject area has been so vastly explored that this trend is now seen as a natural progression which goes associatively with developments in the industrial and business world. There is an increasing concern and emphasize on humanity, environmental preservation and enlightened social consciousness. Thus, a new area of research began to pave its way within the field of business and society where the relationship between corporate social conduct, both toward the corporations stakeholders and the wider society, and the corporations financial performance was and is still being investigated across several countries. Over environmental issues, research h as revealed that businesses which are eco-friendly and demonstrate good CSR practices enjoy increased consumer purchase preference (Gildea, 1994; Zaman, 1996) and good economic performance (Al-Tuwaijiri, et al., 2004). A stakeholder group, as identified and defined by Freeman (1984), is one that that can affect or is affected by achievement of the organisations objectives, that is, which can be harmed as well as can help it to achieve its goals. Therefore, there is a growing need for firms to address the needs and expectations of the stakeholders to avoid negative outcomes and produce positive outcomes for themselves (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Freeman, 1984; Frooman, 1997). Pursuant to the stakeholder theory perspective, CSP can be assessed in terms of a company meeting the demands of multiple stakeholders, ranging from cost minimisation to societal maximisation. Building on the previous mentioned definition of CSP, Wood and Jones (1995) propose that stakeholder theory is the key to understanding the structure and dimensions of the firms societal relationships. This theory thereby assumes that firms are responsible for honouring all the implicit and explicit contracts they hold with their variou s constituents. Therefore, the stakeholder theory provides a system-based perspective of the organisation and its stakeholders where it acknowledges the dynamic and complex nature of the interplay between them. The various stakeholders of the firms, such as the employees, shareholders/ financers, environmentalists, government, communities, customers and even competitors should be convinced by the management that it is working harder to satisfy them. The more important the stakeholders to the firm, the more effort the firm needs to put to uphold its relationship with the former. According to Clarkson, Donaldson and Preston et al. (1995), the stakeholder theory must place shareholders as one of the multiple stakeholder groups which managers should consider in their decision-making process. However, like the shareholders, the other stakeholders may have a say upon the firm, bestowing societal legitimacy. Notably, Bernadette M. Ruf et al. (2001) asserted that firms must address these non-shareholder gro ups demands otherwise they might face negative confrontations which can ultimately result in diminished shareholder value, through boycotts, lawsuits, protests and so on. Hence, firms have a fiduciary duty relationship not only to the shareholders, but to all stakeholders (Hasnas, 1998, p.32). So far, recognising a companys contractual relationship with the various stakeholders has been instrumental in better comprehending the relationship that CSP and CFP share. Stakeholders have expectations from the organisation. Nevertheless, these expectations may conflict with the firms limited resources leading the firm to evaluate its costs and benefits tradeoffs. Firms must thus come with measures representative of the various factors of CSP and stakeholders interests. Unlike neo-classical stockholders who were only interested in financial performance (Grouf, 1994; Shapiro, 1992), the major stakeholders of today, that is, the stockholders are more interested in the firms current and future financial benefits and social performance. 2.3 Empirical Review This section reviews the works done and methods used by researchers on the relationship of CFP and CSP. Empirical results on the correlation between these are mixed whereby some yielded in positive, some in negative or some in non-significant relationships. Basing on the stakeholder theory approach, several models on the CFP-CSP relationship have been proposed, where the largest number of investigations found a positive CSP-CFP relationship. Notably, different methods to compute indexes for CFP and CSP have been used since data on both cannot be possibly obtained in absolute figures. As such, using aggregated weights assigned to K dimensions of social performance obtained through questionnaire for CSP and using change in Return of Equity, change in Return on Sales and growth in sales as financial measures on a sample of 496 firms, Bernadette M. Ruf et al. (2001) came up with a positive relationship between CSP and CFP. They, in fact, regressed change in CSP on change in CFP. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between change in CSP and change in Return on Equity and change in Return on Sales in the long term but that with the Growth of Sales to be significantly positive only in year 0 and 1. The study suggests that improvements in CSP have both immediate and continuing financial impacts. A paper by S. A. Waddock and S. B. Graves (1997) also came up with positive linkage between CFP and CSP. An index for CSP was computed using eight attributes, rated consistently across the entire Standards Poors 500 by a rating service, which were related to stakeholder concerns. The firm financial performance (profitability) was measured using three accounting variables, namely, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on sales (ROS) used to assess CFP by the investment community. Factors such as size, risk and industry which affect both CFP and CSP were taken as control variables. Used on a sample of 469 companies and using CSP as both dependent and independent variable, the results revealed that CFP does depend on CSP and vice-versa and also indicated the importance of controlling for industry in assessing such a relationship. To bring more integrity, M. Orlitzky et al. (2003) conducted a quantitative meta-analysis on the CFP-CSP relationship building on the hypothesis that CSP and CFP are generally positively related leading to competencies, learning, efficiency and reputation-building with its external stakeholders. Taking CFP as a companys financial viability through three broad subdivisions consisting of market-based (investor returns), accounting-based (accounting returns), and perceptual (survey) measures and constructing CSP through four broad measurement strategies, namely: (a) CSP disclosures (annual reports, letters to shareholders); (b) CSP reputation ratings; (c) social audits, CSP processes, and observable outcomes; and (d) managerial CSP principles and values (Post, 1991), the study suggests that corporate virtue in the form of social responsibility and, to a lesser extent, environmental responsibility can pay off, despite the CSP-CFP operationalisations can also moderate the positive associa tion. CSP appeared to be more highly correlated with accounting-based measures of CFP than with market-based indicators, and CSP reputation indices were more highly correlated with CFP than are other indicators of CSP. This meta-analysis establishes a greater degree of certainty with respect to the CSP-CFP relationship than is currently assumed to exist by many business scholars. According to Mahoney L. and Roberts R.W. (2007), there is no significant relationship between a composite measure of firms CSP and CFP. Using four years panel data of Canadian firms, they calculated a composite measure of CSP score by summing all dimension strength ratings, such as, community relations, diversity, employee relations, environment, international, product safety, and amongst others and subtracting all dimension weaknesses ratings. As concerned the CFP, following Waddock and Graves (1997a), return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) were used separately to measure a firms CFP. As CFP was expected to be positively related to CSP, a one-year lag between CFP and all independent variables (CSP, firm size, debt level, and industry) was used. Inconsistent with their expectation, they found no significant relationship between the composite CSP measure and either ROA or ROE. However, the use of individual measures of firms CSP regarding environmental and international act ivities and CFP resulted in a significant relationship providing mixed support for the business case for CSP. A study, using the Granger causality approach, by Rim Makni et al. (2008) reaffirms Mahoney and Roberts (2007) works on the non-significant relationship. However, there may also be a simultaneous and interactive negative relation between CSP and CFP, forming a vicious circle. Building on P. L. Cochran and R. A. Wood (1984) CSR-financial performance model where average age of corporate assets was found to be highly correlated with social responsibility rankings, D. J. Wood (1991) reformulated the CSP model to build a coherent, integrative framework for business and society research. The principles of social responsibility were framed at the institutional, organisational, and individual levels; processes of social responsiveness were shown to be environmental assessment, stakeholder management, and issues management; and outcomes of CSP were posed as social impacts, programs, and policies. The third part of the CSP model concerning the social outcomes was the only portion that was actually observable and open to assessment and any real performance, determined by stakeholders, existed. It was noted that stakeholders were likely to evaluate CSP differently, depending not only on their own interests, but also on their understanding and acceptance of social res ponsibility principles and their relationship to CSP. Building on this model, many researchers worked on finding the linkage between CFP and CSP. Using Wood (1991)s model, the results of a study conducted by P. A. and S.D. Stanwick (1998) showed that a firms CFP is indeed affetced by the size of the firm, and the amount of pollution emissions released. Where many numerous quantitative studies have been carried out to establish, largely in samples of multiple industries, the CSP-CFP relationship, M. Soana (2009) investigated this very linkage in the banking sector using a sample of national and international banks where social performance was proxied using content analysis, surveys, reputational measures, unidimensional indicators, ethical ratings and financial economic performance was proxied using market and accounting ratios. The eventual examination resulted in a no statistically significant link that could indicate any positive or negative correlation between CSP and CFP. The reason was that the majority of studies revised till now are also almost exclusively focused on the USA and UK markets. Corporate governance was also used as control variable, but it showed a non-significant and negative link with ROA and ROA. The study also confirmed the hypothesis that those banks that have the most transparent and efficient ownership st ructure are also the least profitable for shareholders.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Cycle of Fashion Essay -- Fashion Style Mode Essays

The Cycle of Fashion Fashion is fuelled by conversion. Designers continually persuade the public that their new ideas, however shocking they may seem, are in fact everything that a stylish wardrobe requires. Next season, the same designers convince everyone to give up their allegiance to such out-modish designs and embrace instead the innovative visual trends of the latest collections. The same garments are successively dubbed 'outlandish', 'in fashion' and 'out-dated' according to the apparent vagaries of prevailing fashionable sensibilities. Are we really duped by such duplicity? Or are we willing participants in the cycle of fashion? And perhaps more significantly, what relevance does the cycle have today in Western society's culture of mass consumerism? The idea that fashion in dress follows a cyclical phase structure is not new. The sociologist, Quentin Bell made such an observation over fifty years ago in his book, On Human Finery. Moreover, his observation was based on accumulated evidence of an uninterrupted cyclical flow in dress change in Western society since at least the thirteenth century. The sociologist, Ingrid Brenninkmeyer describes this flow by comparing it to the rolling of waves in the sea. As one fashion gains popularity, crests and dissipates, another stylistic wave is already forming behind it. Further extensions of this metaphor liken different stylistic features to variations in the waves themselves. For example, just as different wave patterns form on the basis of their force, size or length, so also different overlapping patterns can be traced in changes of fashionable hem length, silhouette, fabric, dà ©colletage and colour. Mere descriptions of the fashion cycle however do little to explain exactly why successful designers? ideas typically rise and fall in popularity. What is the motivating force behind such changes in fashion? What causes the cycle to move from one phase to the next? These questions cannot be answered simply. Perhaps sheer boredom inspires the continual search for something new. Or can novelty be related to ideas of sexual allure and attraction? Do competing market interests in the fashion industry play a role in animating the cycle? Or could changes in dress function as markers of class differentiation? These factors and more have been variously proposed and analysed by researchers into the socio... ...n's clothing? To look at the men's side of underwear is different." One page of the calendar (April) does depict men's undershirts from the 18th and 19th centuries. Even the English language has been influenced by undergarments. Several popular expressions make reference to underwear: "Loose woman" comes from the connotations associated with uncorseted or loosely corseted women, Queen says. A similar case is "shiftless"; a shift was an 18th century support-providing undergarment, and Queen says the term was meant to characterize someone "without support." Many people believe that underwear for women has changed as it has because of feminism and changing social attitudes. To a large degree, that's true, Queen says, but there are other factors as well. In the past, undergarments were often designed for their "body-shaping" features. But these days, thanks to the increase in exercise and athleticism among women, "the body has become its own foundation" and women no longer need to rely on cloth and whalebone for this purpose, she says. "The choice," says Queen, "is do we want to spend three hours a day in the gym to sculpt the body, or do we want to put on a piece of cloth?"

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Running For Glory :: Personal Narrative Writing

Running For Glory â€Å"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited for these motivational words. I have lived by, and allowed these words into my life my freshman year of high school when I decided to run Cross-Country. It was a cold, brisk Saturday morning. We all packed into the big, rusted, old bus, and set off for the race. As we arrived at Kirby Park, I felt a cold chill shoot all the way up spine. I was nervous. I stood up and could feel how badly my legs were shaking. I had the chills, but I was not cold. There were countless butterflies in my stomach just floating around causing tension deep inside of my body. I felt queasy and felt the need to find a toilet seat to rest over. I somehow managed to walk off the bus. I looked up in the gray, cloudy, gloomy, sky and said, â€Å"Please God, help and guide me through today.† I knew God was with me. This gave me the courage and strength I needed to approach the starting line a short time later. We found a shady area under a big oak tree and sat there to stretch. As every other race, we positioned ourselves in a circle to show our team unity. I started to stretch and could feel how sore and tight my muscles were. It actually hurt when I tried to touch my feet. â€Å"Runners gather round,† a distant voice screamed. This meant it was time to start. Our team said a prayer, and then headed for the starting line. As I approached the starting area, I saw the opposing team. They were tall, big, and muscular. I could see the seriousness on their faces. They came to run, and they came to win. My conscience suddenly started to play games with my mind, and I started asking myself questions. â€Å"What if I didn’t train hard enough? â€Å"What if I am not ready? What if we lose?† I finally blocked myself out of that negative world and found myself in the ready position. My knees were bent, and I was ready for the gun to go off.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Critical study of how music uniquely expands our understanding of experience Essay

Music has long existed in our society as a form of culture, entertainment and the like. In fact every civilization known to exist had had a great deal of benefits from music. There are lots of people who see music as nothing more than plain entertainment however there are those who holds in the claim that music gives us something more than entertainment per se. There are claims that music could affect us in a number of ways. Music has considerable effects on one’s mind, body and emotions. Music that are abundant in beats in a way could fuel one’s body, music carried out with feelings could affect one’s emotional status and could either make one cry with misery or laugh with joy, classical music could stimulate the mind, and so on and so forth. There are people who are greatly aware of the effects music could wrought on a person and this could greatly be seen on our everyday experiences. Movies, films, news, see the importance and know the effects music could have on every individual and thus music is key parts in every movie made nowadays. Have you ever seen a movie that doesn’t have an original sound track or a movie that did not make use of background music? Ever seen a documentary and the like who did not use music in the background while portraying the videos or documents they have? Having seen some of the uses music could have it may now suffice to say that music is indeed an important aspect in our lives and it plays fundamental role in today’s society (as well as on societies which existed thousand of years ago). As was stated music is an essential part of every culture, of every society and thus it is of no surprise that music is seen as a part of our everyday routines. Music could have fundamental effects on one’s emotion. Think of an instance wherein certain music affected you emotionally. Say you heard a certain song and it evoke within you some sort of emotions like pain, happiness and the like. I remember for an instance a conversation I have had with a friend of mine. He always loves to listen to the lyrics of Ever After of Bonnie Bailey and Come Around by Rhett Miller. He told me that he love listening to Ever After because that used to be their theme song (of his ex girlfriend) and he loves singing Come around because he can relate to that particular song. Thus, seemingly music indeed has certain effects on our emotions. I even remember claiming that my friend is such a masochist because he loves listening to sad songs such as Come Around when he has a choice to do otherwise. Similarly music has certain ways of affecting one’s mood. However it is not really known how do music affects a person physiologically and psychologically as well. Thus, a question may arise as to how do certain music affects a person’s mood. In order to determine how music affects a person’s mood one must first know the root as to how music inspires a person’s emotion. There are two contrasting viewpoints who tried to answer this particular puzzle. These views are called emotivist and cognitivist. For an emotivist they believe in the notion that we feel certain emotions as a form of response everytime we hear certain music. The cognitivist on the other hand believes otherwise. The cognitivists believes that there is more to humans than emotions and thus they believe that we get to decode certain musical emotions on a rational level, thus it shows that the cognitivists do not really believe that we really get to experience musical emotions. In order to see whether the beliefs of the emotivists are correct or not an experiment needs to be conducted in order to see if there are certain music models which could draw out coherent physiological reactions from different kinds of people. This experiment is needed in order for us to see if we really do experience emotions when exposed to a particular music. It is in this regard that a study had been conducted by Krumhansl wherein two groups of student were used. These particular groups of students each partake different activities. The activity went as follow: One group of 40 students dynamically rated the levels of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension in six sample pieces intended to evoke sadness, fear, or happiness. They did so by adjusting a slider on a computer while the music was playing. A separate group, consisting of 38 college students, was hooked up to physiological sensors monitoring a variety of cardiovascular, electrodermal, and respiratory responses which recorded their change over time. Both groups heard the six musical samples with a 90-second pause in between each. The physiological measures taken from the second group were compared with the degree of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension reported by the first group. Both the physiological measures and emotional ratings were recorded as they changed during the course of the piece. Therefore, correlations could be drawn between the intensity of certain emotions and physiological symptoms. (Boswell) The results shown by the experiment was in accordance to the side of the emotivists. Each of the musical selections was rated as having the intended emotion, and consistent physiological responses were found for each measured emotion: sad music was correlated with a decreased heart rate, lowered finger temperature, increased blood pressure, and decreased skin conductance level; happy music with faster and shallower breathing, and fear-invoking music with a slower pulse, faster breathing, and decreased finger temperature. These effects were consistent during the duration of the pieces. (Boswell) This is further proof that the emotivists position was indeed supported by the said experiment. The fact that there was a coherent physiological modification that was produced by the different music used in the said experiment were behavioral evidence enough that those college students indeed experienced certain emotions all throughout the time they were exposed to the music used. This result contradicted the claim that emotions could only be transmitted once a person gets to recognize a certain passage present within a particular music. Another study was made by Sloboda. Sloboda attempted to identify the exact musical composition which brings about definite physical emotional responses. Examples of the said responses are tears, trembling, and the like. The study made use of questionnaire which was dispersed to five hundred British citizens. However, only eighty-three persons send back the survey. It is an important thing to know that those eighty-three persons who answered the survey were experts in terms of music, particularly classical music. The said survey had went on as follow: Participants were instructed to indicate the frequency with which they experienced certain physical responses as an effect of music within the last five years, as well as the piece of music and, if possible, the specific part of the piece or musical event that provoked it. In addition, they were asked to say whether the response was consistently evoked. (Boswell) A huge number of the partakers claimed that they were able to experience certain physical emotional responses such as mirth, trembling, tears, lump in their throats and the like for the last five years of their lives. However the survey showed that women are more prone to experiencing tears as compared to men. Men on the other hand, especially those already on their thirties, claimed that they experienced more laughter than compared to other age. Just as was the case on the experiment conducted by Krumhansl, the survey conducted by Sloboda also showed a great deal of consistency to each piece of music they were exposed to. This particular survey also showed the extent of the consistency in that the reactions remained consistent even though they have heard the certain musical piece for more than fifty times. A further point of interest is that there are particular melodic constructions which showed to have consistent effects upon the partakers of the said survey. Appogiaturas for one were consistent in bringing tears into surface. The experiment also showed that a series of changes in terms of harmony incite trembling, whereas quickening brought about faster heart beats. However, if there is a certain drawback in the said study is the fact that it was conducted with the use of questionnaires. We could have no way of knowing if the person who answered it had answered truthfully or if s/he is merely bluffing. Thus, in a way we have no way of making sure that the partakers of the said survey indeed experienced the particular emotions and physical responses they reported they have experienced for the past five years. Another factor is the fact that those who participated in the survey were all expert on the field of music and thus we could not really deduct from this survey alone that the rest of the world would also act or feel the same way. However there are certain studies which had been conducted which show that very little difference exists between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. In addition, the records stated by the partakers of the said survey regarding their experiences of physical signs of emotions are not really unusual. Thus, in a way we could say that the study conducted by Sloboda also supported the position held by the emotivists. We should also take into account the fact that the physical responses reported by the survey partakers are in fact common in all human beings since we all share the same autonomic response system. However, we should also take note of the fact that our capability to utilize the said system in order for us to feel or experience certain emotions brought about by music is in a way, a learned process. This particular claim is supported by the fact that very young children do not really get to experience the said responses. Even those adults who have different kinds of music as compared to ours are not likely capable to experience the said responses brought about by the music we listen into. Thus, Sloboda claimed that the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process which is also dependent on one’s culture. However, this does not necessitate that we do not really get to experience or fell certain emotions from listening to certain music. It only tells us that we may not be able to relate nor are we likely to experience certain emotions from listening to other music that are completely different from ours. Fact is, Sloboda even claimed that if we are to be exposed to music completely different from ours we could still get to relate to that music although it would take time. Therefore even though the link between musical compositions and emotions is a learned process, evidences and studies still show the stand held by the emotivists that we are indeed capable of feeling or experiencing certain emotions simply by listening to a particular music. Thus those who participated in the studies conducted have steadily testified that they have indeed experienced true emotions when they listened to certain music. The researches conducted also accounted for the fact that very little difference in terms of recognizing emotions could be seen between those who have musical expertise and those who have none. Thus this accounted for the emotivists view that we could indeed experience certain emotions simply by listening to certain music, although it is still not clear what inclines us to be affected in certain ways. Research conducted claims that there is really no ground in saying that somewhere in our brains there could be located a region dedicated mainly to process musical data. In contrary, the errand of musical processing is extended to the whole region of our brains. Thus whereas the right brain is responsible for the emotions evoked while listening to music, the left brain is quite responsible for looking at music in a more rational ground thus it tends to critically examine music. There are even proofs which show that the primeval region within our mid brain is the one responsible for our emotions we experience while listening to music. Thus a primeval region within our midbrain engages itself with the task of realizing and appreciating music in an emotional way. However, the specific region wherein music is being developed (if ever there is one) is yet to be known. A study which involves this particular interest was conducted by Schmidt and Trainor. Schmidt and Trainor studied whether or not frontal brain electrical activity correlated with intensity and positivity or negativity, or valence, of emotion. The study showed that the left frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing positive emotions whereas the right frontal brain is the one responsible for experiencing negative emotions. Thus, emotions such as happiness, interests and the like are product of the left frontal brain whereas emotions such as horror, revulsion, pain and the like were made by the right frontal brain. Therefore it would suffice for us to say that when listening to happy tunes our left frontal brain is likely to be triggered whereas listening to desolate songs would trigger our right frontal brain. It also follows that the intensity of music could affect the intensity of the frontal activity. The hypothesis stated above had already been confirmed. A careful selection of music which would likely draw out positive emotions triggered the left frontal brain whereas a careful selection of music which would likely draw negative emotions triggered the right frontal brain. Thus, the frontal activity of the brain increases every time the intensity of certain music also increases. Thus in a way this is also another proof which supports the emotivist view that listening to certain music could make a person experience certain emotions. Thus a similarity between music and language could be seen. Both language and music alike is inclined to be interpreted subconsciously. Thus, this seems to show that humans have a biological structure which enables music to draw emotions from each of us. And though this particular structure is yet to be known, researchers concluded that the said structure is not composed of a single area on the brain. On the contrary, researchers believe that such structure is made up of an interaction of the different systems which could be found within our brain. It is due to music’s many uses that music is also deemed to have considerable effects on the field of medicine. There are certain accounts taken from the Bible, artifacts, as well as studies that show that music could have considerable effects on a person’s health and well-being. In fact, there are historical inscriptions taken from Egypt, Greek, China and other known civilizations which praise music’s ability in medical matters. Music is widely considered to have medical importance and it is in this regard that music even such a term such as music therapy. After World War II the United States of America even see to it that music therapy would be used on wounded soldiers who were tormented by physical as well as emotional traumas taken from the war. Physicians and nurses alike saw how music helped alleviate some of the soldiers or veterans pain by merely engaging themselves on musical activities. It is on this regard that hospitals started employing musicians to help better their patients’ status. Music had been very helpful in bettering the patient’s emotional as well as psychological status and as many people learned of these certain benefits derived from music, National Association for Musical Therapy came to existence. The need for musical therapy became wide range to the point that the National Association for Musical Therapy or NAMT allied themselves to other musical organizations which in turn resulted into the foundation of the American Music Therapy Association or AMTA. The ranges of music therapy vary widely in that it not only caters to emotional sickness since it also proved to be beneficial in sickness suffered under physical injuries. Music therapy helped people in terms of their perceiving pains. There are a number of reasons why they consider music as an effectual means in limiting perceived pains. First, music could divert a person’s mind from the pain at hand or from the pain a person perceives. Second, music could help in terms of giving a person some kind of control. Thirdly, music could help counter pain since it could help a person in releasing endorphins which are necessary in giving a person some sense of well-being. Fourth, slow music could help a person in terms of relaxation in that it slows a person’s breathing. Take a person with leukemia for an example. Let’s say Person A needs to undergo a certain surgery necessary to cure his leukemia. One should admit that surgical procedures are indeed frightening and thus Person A could not help but be afraid of what’s on store for him and thus Person A’s blood pressure continues to rise and this in turn has a crucial effect on Person A’s healing process. This particular thing could also heighten Person A’s awareness or perception of pain. One’s pain could not be measure by anyone and thus there is no standard in terms of the amount of pain a person could have. It is in this manner that music therapy comes into the picture. We have already enumerated the reasons why music therapy is considered beneficial in medicine and thus in this manner one could be lead to speculate that music therapy could indeed lessen one’s pain perception because it could work in certain ways in order to lessen a person’s perceived pain. Disturbance or diversion could help in certain ways in lessening one’s sense perception and thus it could help moderate the pain a person undergoes. This pain moderation could be redirected to the cognitive section which could be seen in the Gate-Control Theory of Pain. Pleasant music naturally applies or concentrates on a person’s pleasant stimulus which in turn concerns the capability of the information processing system. Since the music would be busy attending to the pleasant stimulus of a person it naturally follows that the person’s occupation would be diverted from the pain-causing stimulus. It is ion this regard that music is considered important in distracting a person because distraction presents a person with an escape by means of imagination which in turn is a crucial means in lessening stress, nervousness and fear which are important factors which constitutes pain. Thus enjoyable imagination could promote some sense of control to a person which could decrease a person’s nervousness and feeling of being powerless. Thus since music helps transfer our attention away from painful experiences it provides us with a strategy we could use when we undergo painful experiences, may it be physically or emotionally.